Moving image data processing apparatus and method

ABSTRACT

A moving image processing apparatus gives an ID to a video segment obtained by dividing moving image data, and stores information for associating a section of each video segment with the ID as video segment section information. Here, meta-data corresponding to each video segment is managed by associating the meta-data with the ID given to each video segment. In editing operations, editing in units of a video segment is performed, and an arrangement of video segment IDs is manipulated. Therefore, even if the editing is performed, there arises no inconsistency in referring to meta-data information so that it is equivalent to having the meta-data updated in synchronization with the moving image editing. Thus, it is possible to have virtual editing of the moving image automatically followed by an update of the meta-data and also alleviate a burden of reediting the meta-data of an editor.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a moving image data processingapparatus and a method thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] As a conventional method of recording moving image data, it hasbeen stored in a tape device such as a magnetic tape. As it isimpossible to get random access to the moving image data stored in sucha tape device, it is necessary to actually create a moving image streamin video editing. In recent years, however, it became possible to storemoving image in a device allowing the random access such as a hard disk,and so virtual editing has become possible by successively specifyingmoving image sections to be reproduced.

[0003] Such a virtual editing is very convenient since it allowsreediting and so on to be performed easily without losing/alteringoriginal information. In addition, in the case where the moving image isstored in a random-accessible device, it is possible to provide amultifunction moving image reproducing apparatus since it allows amoving image search (scene search) with meta-data and a summaryreproduction for digestedly reproducing the moving image.

[0004] When having edited the moving image, it is necessary to edit themeta-data and summary data by following it. For instance, in the casewhere the contents of moving image editing are not reflected on themeta-data, there is a possibility that a portion not included in theedited moving image is searched when searching and reproducing theedited moving image with the meta-data. To be more specific,consideration must be given to synchronizing the virtual editing of themoving image with an update of the meta-data so that, in the case wherea video segment is searched for by using the meta-data, the videosegment deleted by the virtual editing will not show in search hitresults.

[0005] In addition, while the contents are checked and grasped by seeinga summary of the moving image in the case where there is a large amountof moving image, there arises an inconsistency between the edited movingimage and the summary when the summary is reproduced if the contents ofmoving image editing are not reflected on the summary data. Forinstance, in the case where an arrangement of the video segments ischanged or the video segment is deleted in the virtual editing, order ofthe scenes by the summary reproduction is different from the editedmoving image or the deleted scenes are reproduced so that it gives asense of incongruity to a person seeing the moving image.

[0006] However, it is very burdensome to edit the meta-data and summarydata in conjunction with the moving image editing, and there is atendency that trouble of editing work rather increases even if theediting of the moving image itself becomes easier.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The present invention has been achieved in view of the aboveproblems, and an object thereof is to have an adaptation of meta-datasearch result automatically follow virtual editing of moving image andalleviate a burden of reediting the meta-data of an editor.

[0008] In addition, another object of the present invention is to rendersummary result automatically adaptive following the virtual editing ofthe moving image so as to allow a summary reproduction which does notgive a sense of incongruity even after the editing of the moving image.

[0009] According to the present invention, the foregoing object isattained by providing a moving image data processing apparatus,comprising:

[0010] group managing means for dividing moving image data into groupscomprised of a plurality of frames and giving them IDs to manage eachgroup;

[0011] editing result storing means for storing an arrangement of theIDs obtained as editing results of sthe moving image data;

[0012] moving image reproducing means for reproducing the groupsaccording to the arrangement of the IDs stored by the editing resultstoring means and thereby reproducing the moving image data as theediting results; and

[0013] meta-data managing means for managing meta-data corresponding tothe groups by associating it with the IDs corresponding to the groups.

[0014] According to the another aspect of the present invention, theforegoing object is attained by providing a moving image data processingmethod, comprising:

[0015] a group managing step of dividing moving image data into groupscomprised of a plurality of frames and giving them IDs to manage eachgroup;

[0016] an editing result storing step of storing an arrangement of theIDs obtained as editing results of the moving image data;

[0017] moving image reproducing step of reproducing the groups accordingto the arrangement of the IDs stored by the editing result storing meansand thereby reproducing the moving image data as the editing results;and

[0018] a meta-data managing step of managing meta-data corresponding tothe groups by associating it with the IDs corresponding to the groups.

[0019] Other features and advantages of the present invention will beapparent from the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate thesame or similar parts throughout the figures thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in andconstitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of theinvention and, together with the description, serve to explain theprinciples of the invention.

[0021]FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a movingimage processing apparatus according to this embodiment;

[0022]FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation overview of the movingimage processing apparatus according to this embodiment;

[0023]FIG. 3 is a flowchart describing a generation process of videosegment section information according to this embodiment;

[0024]FIG. 4 is a flowchart describing a generation procedure ofmeta-data information;

[0025]FIG. 5 is a flowchart describing the generation procedure ofpartial reproduction section information according to this embodiment;

[0026]FIG. 6 is a flowchart describing an editing process of movingimage according to this embodiment;

[0027]FIG. 7 is a flowchart describing a procedure of summaryreproduction according to this embodiment;

[0028]FIG. 8 is a flowchart describing a search process according tothis embodiment;

[0029]FIG. 9 is a drawing showing a concept of division into videosegments according to this embodiment;

[0030]FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a data configuration ofthe video segment section information according to this embodiment;

[0031]FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a data configuration ofmeta-data information according to this embodiment;

[0032]FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a data configuration ofpartial reproduction section information for summary reproductionaccording to this embodiment;

[0033]FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a data configuration ofediting result information according to this embodiment; and

[0034]FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of the partialreproduction section information for the summary reproduction reflectingediting results.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0035] Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now bedescribed in detail in accordance with the accompanying drawings.

[0036]FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a movingimage processing apparatus according to this embodiment. In FIG. 1,reference numeral 101 denotes a CPU, which performs various types ofcontrol including the one indicated in a flow chart mentioned later byexecuting a control program stored in ROM 102 or RAM 103. Referencenumeral 102 denotes a ROM, which has the control program executed by theCPU 101 and various types of data stored therein. Reference numeral 103denotes a RAM, which provides an area for loading the control programstored in an external storage device and a work area for the CPU 101 toperform the various types of control.

[0037] Reference numeral 104 denotes an indicator, which performsvarious indications such as moving image reproduction. Reference numeral105 denotes an operation portion, which is equipped with a keyboard anda mouse. Reference numeral 106 denotes a moving image reproducingapparatus, which reproduces moving image recorded on a DVD for instance.Reference numeral 107 denotes an external storage device, which storesvideo segment section information 110, meta-data information 111,partial reproduction section information 112, editing result information113 and summary reproduction information 114 in addition to a controlprogram 115 to be executed by the CPU 101. The information indicated by110 to 114 is generated and held for each piece of moving image, anddetails thereof will be described later respectively. Reference numeral108 denotes a system bus for connecting the above-mentionedconfigurations.

[0038] Operation of the moving image processing apparatus according tothis embodiment having the above configuration will be describedhereafter.

[0039]FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation overview of the movingimage processing apparatus according to this embodiment. First, movingimage data is segmented in step S201, and an ID is given to each segmentso as to manage it. The process in step S201 will be further describedin detail by referring to FIGS. 9 and 10.

[0040]FIG. 3 is a flowchart describing a generation process of the videosegment section information according to this embodiment. FIG. 9 is adrawing showing a concept of the division into the video segmentsaccording to this embodiment. In addition, FIG. 10 is a diagram showingan example of data structure of the video segment section information110 according to this embodiment.

[0041] In step S201, a series of image frames are divided into videosegments comprised of a plurality of image frames as shown in FIG. 9.Moreover, the following can be named as the method of the division intothe video segments. (1) To give an instruction from the operationportion 105 to the displayed screen and manually divide them into videosegments. (2) To automatically detect scene changes and divide them intovideo segments according to the detection results. Or (3) Toautomatically detect the scene changes and divide them into videosegments, and manually correct them thereafter. It is possible, as amatter of course, to adopt a method other than these, and so there canbe any method of division into the video segments.

[0042] Next, IDs are sequentially allocated to a plurality of videosegments in step S202. And these IDs are used to generate the videosegment section information 110 as shown in FIG. 10 for managing thevideo segments and stores it in the external storage device 107.

[0043] As shown in FIG. 10, the video segment section informationaccording to this embodiment represents a section of each segment with astart point and an end point of each video segment. Moreover, whilesection information (start point and end point) is represented by a timecode in FIG. 10, a frame number may also be used. To be more specific,it may be any representation method as far as it can represent a videosection.

[0044] Returning to FIG. 2 and finishes the process in step S201 andthen proceeds to step S202 to have the meta-data information 111generated and stored in the external storage device 107. This processwill be further described in detail by referring to FIGS. 4 and 11. FIG.4 is a flowchart describing a generation procedure of meta-datainformation. In addition, FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of adata configuration of the meta-data information according to thisembodiment.

[0045] First, a video segment ID for giving the meta-data is specifiedin step S401. As for the method of specifying the ID, an ID number maybe directly inputted from the operation portion 105, or the videosegment ID including the desired scene may be identified by performing apredetermined operation (such as clicking on a moving image reproductionarea) at the desired scene in the middle of moving image reproduction.

[0046] Next, in step S402, the meta-data is manually, automatically orsemiautomatically described in a meta-data field corresponding to thespecified video segment ID. Moreover, the following examples can benamed as the cases of automatic or semiautomatic description. Forinstance, the date and time can be fully automatically given. Inaddition, if there is a GPS, the place can also be automatically given,and a building name and so on are manually added in the case of addingthem to a rough placename. Furthermore, in the case where proceedingevents and a timetable are clear as in a wedding, there is a possibilitythat the meta-data such as “ceremony,” “wedding party,” and moredetailedly, “exchange of rings,” “kiss,” “entrance,” “guest of honor'sspeech,” “toast” and “cake cutting” may be given to the video segment,even though there may be errors to an extent, by using pattern matchingto estimate time information and time series-related matters. It iscalled “automatic” give in this embodiment. In addition, it is called“semiautomatic” give in the case where an error made by the automaticgive is corrected by a human being or what can be automatically givenand what cannot are mixed. And in step S403, it is stored as themeta-data information 111 in the external storage device 107. FIG. 11shows an example of a meta-data schema. In this example, a table iscreated for each piece of moving image, and the meta-data described instep S402 is managed for each video segment ID.

[0047] Returning to FIG. 2, in step S203 next, the partial reproductionsection information 112 for summary reproduction is generated and isstored in the external storage device 107. FIG. 5 is a flowchartdescribing the generation procedure of the partial reproduction sectioninformation in step S203. In addition, FIG. 12 is a diagram showing anexample of a data configuration of partial reproduction sectioninformation for the summary reproduction according to this embodiment.Moving image summary referred to here sequentially reproduces partialmoving image. Moreover, while there is one partial reproduction sectionfor summary in each video segment in order to simplify the descriptionin FIG. 12, it does not indicate a limit to the present invention and itis possible to have an arbitrary number of partial reproduction sectionsfor each video segment. To be more specific, the partial moving image tobe summary-reproduced which is registered for each video segment may beeither one or a plurality.

[0048] A flow in FIG. 5 shows an example of the process of generatingthe information for reproducing the moving image summary by oneoperation. The video segment to be summary-reproduced is selected instep S501, and the start and end points of partial reproduction arespecified in step S502. This process may be performed either by manuallysetting the partial reproduction section while visually checking themoving image actually or by performing some image analysis toautomatically extract the partial moving image. As for the automaticextraction method by means of the image analysis, a section of hardaction or that of little action may be detected as the partial movingimage to be reproduced, for instance. It is possible, as a matter ofcourse, to determine the partial moving image to be reproduced byanother technique, whatever technique it may be.

[0049] In step S503, it is determined whether or not the partialreproduction section for performing further summary reproduction existsin the video segment specified in step S501 (it is determined by whetheror not there was an instruction to set another partial reproductionsection, for instance), and in the case where it exists, it returns tostep S502 and specifies the other partial reproduction section. Thus, itis possible to set a plurality of partial reproduction sections in thesame video segment. If instructed to the effect that there is no morepartial reproduction section to be specified, it proceeds from step S503to step S504 to determine whether or not there is another video segmentto which the partial reproduction section should be set (it isdetermined by whether or not another video segment to which the partialreproduction section should be set was specified, for instance). And itreturns to step S501 if there is another video segment, or finishes thisprocess if none.

[0050] The partial reproduction section information 112 as shown in FIG.12 is generated as above, and is stored in the external storage device107. The partial reproduction section information 112 is the informationfor reproducing the moving image summary, and is not changed by virtualediting mentioned later. As shown in FIG. 12, the partial reproductionsection information 112 is represented in a form of a list of thepartial moving image to be reproduced as the moving image summary foreach video segment. In addition, the partial moving image is representedas the start and end points like the video segment section information110. Moreover, while FIG. 12 represents the section of the partialmoving image with the time code, a frame number and so on may also beused, and the form of representation does not matter as far as it canrepresent the video section just as in the case of the video segmentsection information 110.

[0051] Returning to FIG. 2, the video segment section information 110,meta-data information 111 and partial reproduction section information112 are generated and held in the external storage device 107 by theprocess of the above steps S201 to S203. Moreover, the generation in theprocess shown in steps S202 and S203 (generation of the meta-datainformation 111 and partial reproduction section information 112) may beperformed irrespective of timing after forming the video segments (afterthe process of step S201). In addition, it is also possible to generatethe partial reproduction section information 112 first.

[0052] On finishing the above process, it proceeds to step S204 onward,and the process according to various operations is performed. If thereis the operation for starting editing from the operation portion 105, itproceeds from step S204 to step S205 so as to edit the moving image. Asdescribed below, the editing process performed here is virtual, and thevideo segment editing result information 113 is generated and stored asa result of the editing. Hereafter, the editing process in step S205 andthe editing result information consequently generated will be describedby referring to FIGS. 6 and 13.

[0053]FIG. 6 is a flowchart describing the editing process of the movingimage according to step S205. In addition, FIG. 13 is a diagram showingan example of a data configuration of the editing result informationaccording to this embodiment.

[0054] First, in step S601, the editing process of the moving image isperformed by the operations via the operation portion 105. The editingprocess performed here is movement and deletion of the video segments.The method of specifying an arrangement of the video segments in theediting operations of this embodiment is, as with an existing editingsystem, to display representative image frames of the scenes (videosegments) as icons and replace order thereof or delete them. It is alsopossible, however, to implement it by another editing operation method,whatever technique it may be.

[0055] The editing referred to in this embodiment is not to rearrangethe video segments as the original moving image is edited but torearrange the video segment IDs in edited order and reproduce the videosegments in the rearranged order of the video segment IDs so as toimplement it. To be more specific, it is the virtual editing. Inaddition, a deleted video segment is not deleted in reality, but it isjust not reproduced.

[0056] Next, in step S602, the editing result information 113 reflectingon the contents of the editing performed in step S601 is generated, andis stored in the external storage device 107. The editing resultinformation 113 will be described by referring to FIG. 13.

[0057] Segment arrangement information before performing the editing issequential as shown in Initial in FIG. 13. As opposed to this, an editedrecord 1301 (indicates the edited arrangement of the video segments)having the editing operations performed thereto in step S601 andreflecting the editing results in step S602 is generated. This record1301 has the edited segment arrangement information stored therein,where the ID with “*” is the video segment instructed to be deleted bythe editing operation. Accordingly, if the edited video is reproduced inthis example, the video segments are reproduced and finished by randomaccess in order of 0→1→3→4. It is also possible, as a matter of course,to have the order of the video segments replaced by the editing such as0→1→4→3.

[0058] Moreover, while “*” is used as a method of representing thedeleted video segment, any method may be used as far as it can bedistinguished from an undeleted video segment. Or a method of separatelymanaging the deleted video segment IDs is also thinkable. In addition,initial segments and information are redundant since they are merelysequential, and so it is also feasible to retain only the editedsegments and information.

[0059] Incidentally, according to this embodiment, even if the aboveediting operations are performed, only the video segments andinformation to be stored in the editing result information 113 areupdated, so that there is no change in relationship between the segmentIDs and the video segments. For this reason, the relationship betweenthe meta-data and the video segments is also assured. Accordingly, evenat the moment when the editing is performed and the video segments andinformation are updated, there arises no inconsistency in referring tothe schema (meta-data information 111) shown in FIG. 11 so that it isequivalent to having the meta-data updated in synchronization with themoving image editing.

[0060] Returning to FIG. 2, if instructed to reproduce the moving image,it proceeds from step S206 to step S207 so as to reproduce the specifiedmoving image. Moreover, when reproducing the moving image, the editingresult information (FIG. 13) is referred to, and in the case where theedited record 1301 exists, the video segments are reproduced accordingto it. In the example of FIG. 13, the video segments are reproduced inorder of 0→1→3→4.

[0061] In addition, if instructed to reproduce the summary, it proceedsfrom step S208 to step S209 so as to reproduce the summary reflecting onthe editing results. At this time, if the moving image editing isperformed as mentioned above, the arrangement of the video segments ischanged. Therefore, at the time of reproducing the summary, a personseeing it will have a sense of incongruity due to the inconsistency intime series between moving image reproduction time and summaryreproduction time unless the partial moving image is reproduced inkeeping with the arrangement thereof. In addition, it is not adequate toreproduce as the summary the partial moving image included in the videosegments deleted in the editing, and so such partial moving image shouldnot be reproduced when reproducing the summary.

[0062] The summary reproduction according to this embodiment solves theabove problems, and will be described hereafter by referring to FIGS. 7and 14. FIG. 7 is a flowchart describing the procedure of summaryreproduction performed in step S209. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing anexample of the partial reproduction section information for the summaryreproduction reflecting the editing results.

[0063] In step S701, the editing result information of an imagespecified to be summary-reproduced is read. And in step S702, a list ofvalid video segments keeping the video segment arrangement is created byexcluding the video segments to be deleted while keeping the videosegment arrangement shown in the record 1301 of the editing resultinformation. And the number of the valid video segments in the list isobtained and is referred to as N. And in step S703, a loop counter I isreset at 0 to obtain the video segment ID at the head of the listgenerated in step S702.

[0064] In step S704, it is determined whether or not it is I<N, that is,whether or not the loop counter I exceeded the number N of the validvideo segments of the list, and the process is branched to step S705while not exceeding it, or to step S708 if exceeded it.

[0065] In step S705, the partial reproduction section information 112(FIG. 12) is referred to obtain the partial reproduction sectioninformation for the summary of the video segments corresponding to thevideo segment IDs to be processed currently. Moreover, in the case whereone video segment ID has a plurality of pieces of partial reproductionsection information, all of them are obtained.

[0066] Subsequently in step S706, the partial reproduction sectioninformation obtained in step S705 is added to the partial reproductionsection information for the summary. At this time, the newly obtainedpartial reproduction section information is added after the informationadded in the previous process so as to keep the order of the list (thatis, the video segment order of the editing result information) generatedin step S702.

[0067] In a subsequent step S707, the loop counter I is incremented byI=I+1, and it returns to step S704. Thus, the process of steps S705 andS706 is repeated until the loop counter becomes I<N so as to generatethe partial reproduction section information 114 for the summary.

[0068] Thus, as an example thereof is shown in FIG. 14, the partialreproduction section information 114 for the summary retains thearrangement of the video segments represented in the record 1301 of theediting result information in FIG. 13.

[0069] If I>N is confirmed in step S704, it proceeds to step S708 tocomplete the partial reproduction section information 114 for thesummary and stores it in the external storage device 107. And in stepS709, the partial moving image is sequentially reproduced to reproducethe summary by referring to the partial reproduction section information114 stored in step S708.

[0070] According to the above process, the corresponding partial movingimage is reproduced according to reproduction order of the edited videosegments so that it allows the summary reproduction to be automaticallycorresponding to the editing results.

[0071] Returning to FIG. 2 again, if instructed to search the movingimage by the operation portion 105, it proceeds from step S210 to stepS211 so as to perform a search by using the meta-data. Even in the caseof searching the video segments by using the meta-data, it is checked byusing the editing result information as to whether the video segmentmeeting a search condition in a meta-data search has become the videosegment deleted by the editing so as not to show the deleted videosegment in the search hit results.

[0072]FIG. 8 is a flowchart describing a search process in step S211. Inthis process, the video segments deleted by the editing are excludedfrom the search results.

[0073] First, in step S801, a meta-data attribute to be searched for anda search query are specified. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11,the meta-data includes a plurality of attributes (“object,” “annotation”and so on), and they have their values recorded respectively. In stepS801, the search query is specified, and the attribute of the meta-datafor examining whether or not the data matching with the search queryexists is specified.

[0074] In step S802, the meta-data of the meta-data attribute specifiedin step S801 is examined, and a list of the video segment IDs matchingwith the search query is generated. In step S803, the video segments andarrangement (record 1301) after editing the editing result informationare referred to, and the video segment IDs with “*” mark (IDs of thevideo segments deleted by the editing) are excluded from the listgenerated in step S802. In the example in FIG. 13, IDs=2, 5 are deleted,and so they are deleted in the case where they exist in the listgenerated in step S802.

[0075] For instance, in the case where the “object” is selected as themeta-data attribute and the video segment showing a hand is searchedfor, it hits the video segment IDs=1 and 2 from the meta-datainformation in FIG. 11. However, the video segment ID=2 is deleted fromthe editing result information 113 so that only the video segment ID=1is returned as the search results.

[0076] The above process can prevent the data deleted by the editingfrom being included in the search results.

[0077] In addition, it is also feasible, other than excluding the videosegments deleted as a result of the editing from the search results, toreflect the arrangement of the video segment IDs obtained as the editingresults when presenting the search results (presenting the searchresults in order of the arrangement of the video segment IDs, forinstance).

[0078] In addition, while the above embodiment used a conceptual diagramfor storing the video segment section information 110, meta-datainformation 111, partial reproduction section information 112 andediting result information 113 in fixed fields, it is not limitedthereto. For instance, as the attribute can be represented by using anidentifier (TAG) in the case of using a structure description languagesuch as XML, HTML or SGML, size and description positions are no longerlimited. Moreover, the series of information such as 110, 111, 112 and113 can be represented by using another structure description language.

[0079] In addition, while a unit of the editing is the video segment inthis embodiment, it may also be a shot or the unit based onunderstanding of the contents.

[0080] In addition, while the search was performed by covering theentire field to be searched when searching the video segment by usingthe meta-data according to this embodiment, it is also feasible toprepare an index for an efficient search in advance so as to efficientlyobtain the applicable video segment ID by referring to it. For instance,it is assumed that there is a meta-data field for describing a personshown in a video. In the case where three persons A, B and C appear inthe video, the index means preparing the list of IDs of the videosegments in which A, B and C appear respectively. In the case wherethere is an instruction to search for the video segments in which Aappears, it is very fast since the above list of IDs of the videosegments in which A appears can be used as-is as the search results. Onthe other hand, in the case where there is no index, it takes processingtime since the search is performed by covering the entire fieldsdescribing the persons appearing in the video.

[0081] Moreover, it is needless to mention that the object of thepresent invention is also attained by supplying to a system or anapparatus a storage medium having recorded a program code of softwarefor implementing functions of the aforementioned embodiment and havingthe program code stored in the storage medium read and executed by acomputer (or a CPU or an MPU) of the system or apparatus.

[0082] In this case, the program code read from the storage mediumitself implements the functions of the aforementioned embodiment, and sothe storage medium storing the program code constitutes the presentinvention.

[0083] As for the storage medium for supplying the program code, afloppy disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, aCD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM and soon may be used.

[0084] In addition, it is needless to mention that it includes not onlythe cases where execution of the program code read by the computerimplements the functions of the aforementioned embodiment but also thecases where an OS (operating system) and so on operating on the computerperform a part or all of the actual process based on an instruction ofthe program code and the functions of the aforementioned embodiment isthereby implemented.

[0085] Furthermore, it is needless to mention that it includes the caseswhere the program code read from the storage medium is written to amemory provided to a feature expansion board inserted into the computeror a feature expansion unit connected to the computer, and thereafterthe CPU and so on provided to the feature expansion board or the featureexpansion unit performs a part or all of the actual process based on theinstruction of the program code and the functions of the aforementionedembodiment is thereby implemented.

[0086] As described above, it is possible, according to the presentinvention, to have the virtual editing of the moving image automaticallyfollowed by the adaptation of the meta-data search result, alleviating aburden of reediting the meta-data of an editor.

[0087] In addition, according to the present invention, the summaryresult is automatically adapted following the virtual editing of themoving image so as to allow the summary reproduction which does not givethe sense of incongruity even after the editing of the moving image.

[0088] As many apparently widely different embodiments of the presentinvention can be made without departing from the spirit and scopethereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to thespecific embodiments thereof except as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A moving image data processing apparatus,comprising: group managing means for dividing moving image data intogroups comprised of a plurality of frames and giving them IDs to manageeach group; editing result storing means for storing an arrangement ofthe IDs obtained as editing results of said moving image data; movingimage reproducing means for reproducing said groups according to thearrangement of the IDs stored by said editing result storing means andthereby reproducing the moving image data as the editing results; andmeta-data managing means for managing meta-data corresponding to saidgroups by associating it with the IDs corresponding to the groups. 2.The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said group managing meansmanages each group by associating a section in said moving image data ofthe plurality of frames constituting the group with the ID.
 3. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein said editing result storingmeans further stores deletion information for showing the ID of thegroup deleted as a result of editing.
 4. The apparatus according toclaim 1, further comprising: image portion managing means for managingan image portion extracted from each group by associating the imageportion with the ID corresponding to the group of an extraction sourcethereof; and summary reproduction means for sequentially reproducing theimage portion managed by said image portion managing means based on thearrangement of the IDs stored by said editing result storing means. 5.The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: search means forsearching for an image by using said meta-data; and reflecting means forreflecting the contents stored by said editing result storing means onsearch results of said search means.
 6. The apparatus according to claim5, wherein said reflecting means presents the search results accordingto the arrangement of the IDs after the editing stored by said editingresult storing means.
 7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theediting results stored by said editing result storing means-includedeletion information for showing the ID deleted by editing; and saidreflecting means deletes search results corresponding to the ID shown insaid deletion information from said search results.
 8. A moving imagedata processing method, comprising: a group managing step of dividingmoving image data into groups comprised of a plurality of frames andgiving them IDs to manage each group; an editing result storing step ofstoring an arrangement of the IDs obtained as editing results of saidmoving image data; moving image reproducing step of reproducing saidgroups according to the arrangement of the IDs stored by said editingresult storing means and thereby reproducing the moving image data asthe editing results; and a meta-data managing step of managing meta-datacorresponding to said groups by associating it with the IDscorresponding to the groups.
 9. The method according to claim 8, whereinsaid group managing step manages each group by associating a section insaid moving image data of the plurality of frames constituting the groupwith the ID.
 10. The method according to claim 8, wherein said editingresult storing step further stores deletion information for showing theID of the group deleted as a result of editing.
 11. The method accordingto claim 8, further comprising: an image portion managing step ofmanaging an image portion extracted from each group by associating theimage portion with the ID corresponding to the group of an extractionsource thereof; and a summary reproduction step of sequentiallyreproducing the image portions managed by said image portion managingstep based on the arrangement of the IDs stored by said editing resultstoring step.
 12. The method according to claim 8, further comprising: asearch step of searching for an image by using said meta-data; and areflecting step of reflecting the contents stored by said editing resultstoring step on search results of said search step.
 13. The methodaccording to claim 12, wherein said reflecting step presents the searchresults according to the arrangement of the IDs after the editing storedby said editing result storing step.
 14. The method according to claim12, wherein the editing results stored by said editing result storingstep include deletion information for showing the ID deleted by editing;and said reflecting step deletes search results corresponding to the IDshown in said deletion information from said search results.
 15. Acontrol program for having a moving image data processing methodaccording to claim 8 implemented by a computer.
 16. A storage medium forstoring a control program for having a moving image data processingmethod according to claim 8 implemented by a computer.